A Comment about the Times we Live in and the Past.

At 72 I’m struggling with senility, they say when you get old you remember things from along time ago but you don’t remember the things that are happening now. I think I’ve reached that point. I watch the political hoopla that is going on today and I can’t help but think back to experiences in my past. I watch all the people at the rallies with the Red Hat’s chanting things like, “Lock her up!” and, “U.S.A.!”, as well as other slogans, and I can’t help but think of, “Strength through unity, strength through community!”. If you’re wondering where that nonsense came from, it was from a TV show about something that really happened here in the United States in 1967. The movie was a made-for-TV movie that was produced in the 1981. I think that it would behoove people who haven’t seen the movie to sit down and watch it and share it with their children, and then talk about how something that could not, should not happen in the United States really did happen ( https://youtu.be/ICng-KRxXJ8 ). There is also a follow-up movie by the teacher that was involved in this classroom experiment at the California high school ( https://youtu.be/x3ww8QPmcHk )

I also remember what happened at Kent State University which is commonly referred to as the Kent State massacre. How many of you even know what I’m talking about? It happened May 4, 1970 at Kent State in Ohio. This is what happens when you send the military with loaded weapons to deal with a group of unarmed civilians and somebody throws a bottle or a rock. This is another bloody shameful time that most Americans would rather shove under the rug rather than remember and learn from. It is even remembered in a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young titled Ohio ( https://youtu.be/68g76j9VBvM ) ( https://youtu.be/TRE9vMBBe10 )

Lastly we should not forget the eugenics movement that was started in the United States. That has been called the war on the poor. And supported the forcible sterilization of the poor, disabled and immoral. Another shameful period In our history. A movement that was picked up and used by the leader of Germany in the 1940s to justify internment camps to make the German people safe from the evil people within their nation. That eventually led to the death of over 11 million people in what we now call the concentration camps. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_in_the_United_States )

So why am I putting this information out there? I’m not here to attack a political party or any specific individual, I’m just pointing out a set of historical facts so that people can draw their own conclusions. One thing about being the underdog it forces you to consider your position and your vocabulary very carefully. We, as the lepers of society, have a unique viewpoint and we should start to interact with the rest of the world, not so much to change the registry, but to point out things that are wrong with society as a whole.

I’m not just involved with fighting the registry I’m also fighting for everyone’s civil rights, and I’m fighting for the veterans that are coming home from overseas with so many emotional issues that nobody really wants to deal with. We can’t be afraid to tell somebody when we think they’re wrong or wrongheaded, but when we point those things out we can’t just walk away from them after making those comments. We have to let them know that we’re willing to stand for them and with them through the process of learning and healing.

History shows us not only where we’ve been, but where we are. It wouldn’t hurt some of you young’ns to sit down and listen to the ghost like footsteps that are in the dusty halls.